Governance Systems Change

Written by Andre Piver on September 24, 2016

The Green Party of BC is far more than just about the environment. Our scientific evidence-informed view applies just as much to our human created systems, including our governance. We will have the courage to change them transparently, where perverted systemic incentives function in a way that is primarily to limit political liability or lead to management bonuses that in fact are about rewarding specific financially and politically supportive sectors and particularly where these lead to policies that are mutually contradictory, as is unfortunately so often the case in recent decades. We will face and articulate inconvenient truths when necessary. This includes starting the process of facing failed attempts to provide the appearance of accountability in top-down, inaccessible, rigid silos that not only alienate our citizens but also alienate the very public service providers who in the end are the only ones who have direct contact with the real complexities of their missions, on the ground. Fobbing citizens off to visit a website or having public servants who are limited to plugging a very narrow part of reality into a rigid computer program, cannot continue to become our only form of carrying on the business of government . It is failing both in terms of outcomes and alienation of both citizens and public servants.
Grass roots information must flow upwards and meet policies and practices. Management as if we were dealing with an assembly plant for precise and predictable engineered parts, does not work. Natural systems including those responding to human needs and behaviour is more complex and does not function in silos. All aspects affect each other, for example the mental health system affects community policing, emergency medical services, potential terrorism, pharmacare, social services, education, housing, family services, children and families , neighbourhood commerce, tourism etc. Pharmaco-therapy is often important but not always the critical or missing piece. We actually know that a critical missing piece is for those who require this system to have a reliable and continuing relationship with another human, who themselves have adequate training and support .Our systems must evolve outside of the industrial paradigm in order to return to some real and experienced functionality.
This also includes financial sustainability but looking beyond instant gratification and the next financial quarter; rather looking more deeply at social and material sustainability.

My very long paragraph needed to be broken up , so I apologize for the run-on. However I do believe that most people across the political spectrum recognize the above. We have some confusion about complex versus complicated systems ( all but some MBAs and engineers recognize it ,as perhaps elusive but obvious, once it is articulated) see:

Bill Masse commented
2016-12-14 20:17:15 -0800

Andre, as Research and Policy Chair and Vice Chair of the Platform Policy Advisory Committee, I want to thank you for your input.
Bill Masse

Mark McInnes commented
2016-11-09 11:41:06 -0800

Hi Andre,

After yesterday’s American election, there hasn’t been a greater need for updating our government and how we approach politics. We need a citizenry capable of appreciating nuances and complexity, as well as who know that politicians lie because they know there’s a market for it, and who understand fundamentally how to fact-check their own and others’ opinions.

After yesterday, the role of education has never been more important to instruct the next generation (and the current) that civics must mean so much more than stuffing a ballot box or paying attention only when it’s last second.

To me, civics is essentially about group problem solving. If we taught young people to how to group problem-solve and use that rubric to approach politics, we’d better appreciate how factionalism and gamesmanship harm our ability to problem-solve our common issues.

This reform has to come from education, the media, and the parties themselves if we want to avoid continuing down our path of short-sighted self-destruction.

Andre Piver commented
2016-10-11 10:16:32 -0700

Thanks Nic. The deeper bit is that science is actually about the best evidence in the light of (always) some degree of uncertainty. Governance must be based on this rather than the pretense of perfect engineered systems that can be run top down with tick-boxes. Wise leadership is about having and using resources to make difficult decisions and a willingness to educate, first of all oneself and then the public, about the complexities of the real world. Difficult with 15 sec. soundbyte media coverage and multiple choice exam oriented educational system = the beginnings of dumbing us down and producing cogs for our industrial employment market. I also acknowledge that we need to start where we are as a civilization and develop a way of delivering a message that can reach a public with little tolerance for complexity.

Nic Waller commented
2016-10-11 03:23:38 -0700

Completely agree with your first point – the BC Greens must commit to governance that heeds available data and science, and must support programs that contribute to the availability of such data.